by Kevin Lamb

Created on: July 08, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

A death in the family had caused Alex to spend some time with his grandmother in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. With the town being rich in history Alex decided to kill some time and check out the battlefield in Gettysburg and some of the other historic spots in the area.

The old Victorian mansion in which his grandmother lived seemed to thrive with history and stories from the past. The grounds of the estate were massive with several old barns and stables, and also several servants quarters which dated back to the mid 1800's before the Civil War.

Alex was told to keep clear of the barns for fear of their collapse. He was also told to stay out of the garden area without any explanation at all. This of course was all that Alex needed to inspire his curiosity of the area.

Grandma Belton also forbid him from any activities at night; stating that sometimes there had been some rather unsavory characters that roamed the area after dark. That was okay with Alex, he had already found his means of escape for his nighttime adventures.

Part of the grounds of the estate had been used during the Civil War for the movement of the troops, and this of course thrilled Alex. Now he could check out the area for any Civil War memorabilia.

Sometimes before grandma went to bed Alex would catch her staring out of the window towards the garden area and the huge garden gate. The gate itself was constructed after the Civil War in memory of the thousands of soldiers who died during the battle in the area.

The gate was made entirely of stone which came from a nearby quarry near the area, and was also said to have been built by former slaves. The stone wall around the gate had since fell down due to decay but the garden gate itself for some reason had remained perfectly intact.

After the first week at the mansion Alex decided to take a midnight trip around the grounds of the estate. He waited in his bed for an hour after grandma had retired and made his way out the window and down the huge gutter spout.

Once outside Alex found that the area was extremely quiet and as still as a graveyard. The stillness of it all seemed to spook Alex for no reason at all; like he had stepped into another time and place.

Of course the place he wanted to check out first was the huge stone garden gate. Just a short walk in the night took Alex right up to the huge garden gate. When he had reached the gate he was amazed at the size of it. He had never been to the gate and it

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